Американские боги

           Itwasbiggerandheavierthananycoinshe’dusedsofar.Heclassic-palmedit,lethishandhangbyhissidenaturally,thenstraightenedhishandasthecoinslippeddowntoafront-palmposition.Itfeltnaturalthere,heldbetweenhisforefingerandhislittlefingerbytheslightestofpressure.

           "Smoothlydone,"saidWednesday.

           "I’mjustlearning,"saidShadow."Icandoalotofthetechnicalstuff.Thehardestpartismakingpeoplelookatthewronghand."

           "Isthatso?"

           "Yes,"saidShadow."It’scalledmisdirection."Heslippedhismiddlefingersunderthecoin,pushingitintoabackpalm,andfumbledhisgriponit,ever-so-slightly.Thecoindroppedfromhishandtothestairwellwithaclatterandbounceddownhalfaflightofstairs.Wednesdayreacheddownandpickeditup.

           "Youcannotaffordtobecarelesswithpeople’sgifts,"saidWednesday."Somethinglikethis,youneedtohangontoit.Don’tgothrowingitabout."Heexaminedthecoin,lookingfirstattheeagleside,thenatthefaceofLibertyontheobverse."Ah,LadyLiberty.Beautiful,isshenot?"HetossedthecointoShadow,whopickeditfromtheair,didaslidevanish—seemingtodropitintohislefthandwhileactuallykeepingitinhisright—andthenappearedtopocketitwithhislefthand.Thecoinsatinthepalmofhisrighthand,inplainview.Itfeltcomfortingthere.

           "LadyLiberty,"saidWednesday.